iPhone X and iPhone 8: camera flash strikes in the cold

iPhone owners might experience problems with camera flash at minus degrees. In addition, fake Apple bills are in circulation. All Apple News in the blog.

Apparently, the harsh winter makes some iPhones the newer generations quite difficult: According to heise.de strike the flash and video light on the iPhone X and iPhone 8, as soon as the temperature falls below a certain point – it must not even be minus degrees. Apps appear to respond differently to the problem. The flashlight is apparently not affected.

March 1: How to recognize fake Apple invoices

Fraudsters are currently trying to get personal data from iTunes, App Store or Apple Music customers with well-made fakes of Apple invoices. It often lists high billing contributions that are intended to bring recipients to react – and thus to enter their data. In an updated support document, the company gives tips on how to distinguish fraudulent emails from real Apple invoices:

Check Purchase History : If the details in the invoice do not match those in the official App Store or iTunes Store, the bill is most likely a scam.

Data Query : According to Apple , company’s real-world bill-to-mail never asks for personal information such as the full credit card number, details of family members, or the credit card verification number (CCV).

Updates : If Apple’s alleged mails say that users should update their account or payment information, they can only do so in the device settings of iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, the App Store or via iTunes on the computer. Customers should never click links in emails to update their data on a web page. These could be well-replicated but fake websites that only serve to capture important data.

February 28: Asian smartphone vendors copy iPhone X design

In some tech blogs, the cutout for sensors at the top of the screen has been ridiculed by Apple’s iPhone X – but Asian manufacturers are copying the controversial design decision with enthusiasm. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, ​​several devices were presented with the Google Android operating system with large screens, but also the distinctive “display ears”. Instead of the various sensors for face recognition as in Apple, however, the speakers and front camera are housed in the black recess as usual.

As the most well-known manufacturer Asus took up the form with its new ZenFone 5 on. The gap is 26 percent smaller than the iPhone X, the company highlighted from Taiwan. In Barcelona, ​​at least half a dozen unknown in the West brands such as Leagoo, Oukitel or Ulefone models in the design of the iPhone X. It is not just copied Apple: The Leagoo S9 borrowed the look of the iPhone and the name of the current top Model of the smartphone market leader Samsung.

iPhone 8

The prices vary widely: the Ulefone X should cost $ 160, the symbol X of Hotwav only $ 85. This price could still be undercut by the Blackview A30, which is particularly cheap and plastic – but imitates even the user interface of the iOS system of Apple’s iPhones. According to Blackview employees, a price is not yet fixed. For comparison, the technically upgraded iPhone X costs in the US from 999 dollars before taxes and in Europe from 1149 euros.

February 27: Apple is reportedly planning a giant iPhone for the fall

The evidence that Apple wants to bring an iPhone with a much larger screen on the market, thickening. For the next update of the model range in the fall, a device with 6.5 inch screen size is planned, wrote the financial service Bloomberg on Monday evening, citing informed persons. It should give a new model in the size of the current flagship iPhone X, as well as a cheaper phone with some innovative features of the more expensive devices such as face recognition.

Apple is currently conducting production tests with suppliers, it said. At the same time, Bloomberg limited that the plans could change. One of the authors of the report is Mark Gurman, who was able to unveil various Apple novelties early on as a blogger prior to his job at Bloomberg. Apple does not comment on such reports.

The case of the largest new iPhone model with 6.5-inch screen will have roughly the dimensions of today’s iPhone 8 Plus – but fill the display virtually the entire front. Then you will also be able to run two apps side by side, as today on an iPad tablet. The iPhone X has a 5.8 inch screen. The well-known industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities had already written in January, Apple plans next to an updated edition of the iPhone X, a larger iPhone X Plus and a cheaper phone with a 6.1-inch LCD screen instead the more expensive OLED displays.

Apple also wanted to use a reprogrammable built-in E-SIM instead of the usual plug-in cards in the new models, wrote Bloomberg. But some network operators blocked it and Apple needed their support, it said. In some regions, the larger model could instead come with two SIM card slots.

For months it is speculated how well the more than 1000 Euro expensive iPhone X in the long run sells. Apple does not name sales figures for individual models. A jump in the average iPhone price in the Christmas quarter speaks for a high proportion of the iPhone X in the product mix – but is expected for the current quarter with a significant decline. Meanwhile, the cheaper iPhone 8 still looks just like the 2014 series of 6 series. This should be over this year and also the cheaper new model will get the design of the iPhone X, wrote Bloomberg. It will have a frame made of aluminum instead of the stainless steel of the more expensive versions.

February 24: Attac’s anti-globalization opponents still demonstrate in Apple stores

In the French dispute over demonstrations in stores of the US technology group Apple, anti-globalization opponents of the network Attac have prevailed in their own estimation. A court in Paris dismissed on Friday the request of the US group to prohibit Attac members under a penalty of 150,000 euros actions in French shops, the news agency AFP reported.

Attac activists seized several Apple stores in France last December, including business in the Paris Opera district, leading to the evacuation and temporary closure of the store.

Apple France was initially unable to reach an opinion. Attac said activists could now continue to demonstrate in Apple stores against the group’s “tax tricks”.

The European Commission had long ago declared Ireland’s tax regime illegal for the group, and the country now has to raise a good 13 billion euros in taxes. Ireland and Apple defend themselves in court against the Brussels decision. Apple has always pointed out in the tax dispute that one abide by the applicable law and paid especially in the US taxes, because there is the actual value of the Apple products. It is now by far the largest taxpayer in the world.

February 20: Apple releases emergency update because of the Indian text bomb

Apple released an emergency update on Monday night to fix a nasty bug. iPhone, iPad and iPod touch could namely with a certain string – according to media reports, it could be characters of the Indian language Tegulu – crash or force into an infinite loop. For this, the characters had to be sent only by message to the device. Even if the characters were hidden in a name or spread via Facebook, this could cause the devices to crash.

These “text bombs” defused Apple now via iOS 11.2.6 and the macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Supplemental Update. Users of iPhone and iPad are advised to install the update immediately.

Both Facebook and Twitter had previously also responded to the bug and certain characters on their spam list set, so that they can no longer be spread.

February 19: Twitter stops app for Macs

Users of Apple computers must in the future do without a program provided by Twitter itself for the installation of the short message service. The corresponding app for macOS will no longer be offered for download, said Twitter. For existing installations, there will only be a technical support until mid-March.

Twitter explains the move with efforts to make the user experience more consistent regardless of the operating system. The company recommends using the service on Macs in the browser on the Twitter.com page. Alternatively, the in-house web application Tweetdeck is available free of charge.

iPhone X

February 16: Indian text bomb lets iPhones freeze

According to media reports, typing in a specific sign of the Indian language Telugu may crash the operating system of various Apple devices. SPIEGEL ONLINE reports that the Italian tech blog Mobile World has discovered the mistake. Thereafter, numerous applications on the operating systems MacOS, iOS and watchOS are affected – including the notes app, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and browsers such as Safari, Firefox and Chrome. In Europe, the signs in question may not be widespread, but almost 80 million people worldwide speak Telugu.

Apple launches the sale of its HomePod speaker

Apple has launched its networked HomePod speaker Friday, bringing it into a previously occupied by Sonos, Amazon and Google market. Similar to the competition, the HomePod can play music and respond to voice commands. Apple wants to score with the users, however, with a better sound quality than the rivals. The price is significantly higher at $ 350 than most competitive speakers.

Customers in Australia were the first to try the HomePod on Friday, and will be debuting in the United Kingdom and the United States. The start in Germany and France is announced without a more specific date for spring.

Apple first introduced the HomePod in June and originally wanted to release it by the end of last year. However, the group could not keep the schedule. According to media reports, the software took longer – and continues to work on it. So, at the start, the announced ability to merge two HomePods into a pair does not exist yet. And the software AirPlay 2, with which several speakers in different rooms can be better controlled, is not finished yet. The functions are to be supplied later by software update.

Apple has been working on the HomePod for the past six years, stressing that it should first and foremost be a device for high quality music playback. The HomePod software is designed to automatically adjust the sound to the acoustics of the room. In the cylindrical loudspeaker is a ring of seven tweeters, which are responsible for a spatial sound.

February 8: iPhone ban on sales – Qualcomm and Apple land in court

The chip manufacturer Qualcomm wants Apple to prohibit the sale of its new iPhone models in Germany – since Thursday, the Munich district court negotiates about it. Qualcomm accuses Apple of using patent-protected technologies in its smartphones without paying for them.

Both corporations are at home in California – and both parties are in litigation. The German courts are compared to American but faster and friendlier to patent holders – also Qualcomm has filed in Munich and Mannheim, two more lawsuits.

In the dispute, Apple initially complained that the semiconductor specialist demanded too much for patent licenses and demanded a billion dollar rebate payments that Qualcomm had initially promised, but then held back. The chip manufacturer countered, Apple falsify facts and have spurred regulators to attacks. In July 2016, Qualcomm accused Apple of infringing on six patents in further US lawsuits and intending to ban the import of iPhones with Intel wireless chips to the United States. Qualcomm chips provide the wireless connection in most smartphones. Only in two years, Apple is building in a part of the iPhone models – which are mainly sold in Europe – chips from Intel.

The lawsuits in Germany are also about a technology that adjusts the power consumption of a smartphone to the current task. This includes a method to bundle several data transmission tracks in a video transmission. Because of alleged patent infringement Qualcomm wants to achieve an import and sales stop for iPhones in Germany and also demands compensation. Apple requested that the claim be dismissed. At the start of the process, a value in dispute of 20 million euros was set.

February 7: Brussels researches the purchase of the music recognition app Shazam

The European Commission has expressed concerns about Apple’s acquisition of the popular music recognition app Shazam. There was concern that the acquisition would have adverse effects on competition, the Commission said on Tuesday in Brussels. Therefore, the Authority will consider the proposed takeover at the request of the EU countries Austria, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden as well as Norway and Iceland.

Apple and Shazam announced in December that the iPhone maker is buying the music recognition app. According to industry experts, the purchase price is about 400 million dollars (322 million euros).

With the deal, the US group wants to advance its music streaming service Apple Music, which is still far behind the market leader Spotify. The London-based Shazam helps music lovers who like a song on the radio, in the bar or at the party, but do not know who it is. The smartphone app identifies the title and then immediately refers to websites where it can be heard against payment.

Apple ID phishing due to fake iTunes acknowledgments

With fake purchase confirmations from the iTunes store fraudsters try to elicit users their Apple ID. At present, names of well-known music streaming services were abused for such phishing mails, warns the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) of Lower Saxony. The messages should lure the recipient, who has not ordered or subscribed, from the reserve. The calculator of the perpetrators: The user clicks directly on links such as “cancel subscription” or “Cancel purchase” in the mail. However, the lead to a perfectly fake Apple page, where then Apple ID and password to be fished.

To increase the pressure to act, it is noted in the mails that it could have given a third party access to their own Apple account. The best way for recipients to delete such emails is the same. In addition, the LKA strongly recommends setting up two-factor authentication for the Apple ID. Then attackers even with password have no access to the account, because at login additionally a verification code must be entered, which is displayed to the user as on his smartphone.

February 5: iPhone X zickt as a phone – call Black

New trouble for Apple: According to media reports, his smartphone flagship iPhone X seems to be refusing to answer calls at times. “The phone rings, the screen stays dark,” says Spiegel Online , for example . The old cliché question “Can one also telephone thereby?” Some users have to answer with a resigned “sometimes” at the moment.